Patchwork Puzzle Balls

by Jinny Beyer

Fun and quick to make, fabric balls are great for indoor play, for home-decor accents, for holiday ornaments, or as soft and cuddly toys for babies. The ten designs featured in this book include complete step-by-step directions and color diagrams to show how to construct and color each project. Easy-to-use templates take the math out of even the most complex of the designs, enabling crafters to create dazzling patchwork patterns that match up beautifully.

Genres: Quilting

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2005

Reviews

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly read this for pysanky division inspiration, but it kind of made me want to pick up the needle, thread and scissors and give it a go. A bit hokey with the "puzzle" concept, played out with "clues" that aren't really clues but actually instructions on the formation of each ball. However, it is pretty cool that the author explains how she used some pretty solid-looking geometry to adapted traditional quilting patterns into polyhedrons that turn into spheres when made out of fabric and stuffed to the gills with cotton. (Seriously. The instructions for stuffing are, paraphrased: "Sew it except for one side and stuff it. Then stuff it twice as much. Let it sit overnight to condense and then stuff it more. Sew up everything except for a tiny hole and stuff that." The drafting instructions in the appendix show you how to use a compass to resize your own templates. Neat.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These balls look pretty cool. I'm excited to make some. I don't know what I'll do with them, but they are cute. Maybe the boys will enjoy throwing them at each other.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like!